Healing of the nobleman's son

Most healing is not flashy, and is preceded by
patience and faith

John 4:46-54 2nd Monday of
Pascha, 2013

So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where
he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at
Capernaum. (47) When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee,
he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for
he was at the point of death. (48) Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and
wonders, ye will not believe. (49) The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my
child die. (50) Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And
the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his
way. (51) And as he was now going down, his servants met him,
and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. (52) Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to
amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left
him. (53) So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in
the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole
house. (54) This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when
he was come out of Judaea into Galilee."[1][John 4:46-54]

CHRIST IS
RISEN!

There is a lot here in this short story of the second sign
Jesus did at the beginning of his ministry.

Sometimes reading scripture is similar to pricing real estate;
in real estate the three most important things are "location, location, location!"
and in Scripture hermeneutics, we must pay attention to "context, context,
context!"

Jesus' first two signs were in the land primarily inhabited by
the Gentiles, Galilee. Previous to this miracle, He turned water into wine among
the Gentiles (in Cana of Galilee) , and met the Samaritan woman (considered by the
Jews to be worse than the Gentiles, as they were considered to be apostate Jews).
The Samaritans after being evangelized by woman we have honored with the title
"Photini, Equal to the Apostles", believed in Jesus, and all they required was two
days of listening to his talk, which was "as no man has ever spoke". The
Jews, especially among the ruling elite, did not believe, and were jealous, and
actually asked for a sign, ignoring the miracle of the wine, and Jesus obvious
authority and wisdom. This is why Saint John mentions:

"Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. (44) For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet
hath no honor in his own country." (John
4:43-44)

Within this context, we encounter this story.

The nobleman believed Jesus without requiring proof, and the
context if his belief, juxtaposed with the faith of the Samaritans, and the miracle
in Cana of Galilee is a resounding rebuke of the unbelieving Jews. The elite Jews
did not believe because they were blinded by anger, and jealousy and pride. We had
best make a note of this.

The most compelling aspect of this story is if we apply it to
ourselves. It can be (MUST BE) understood in a metaphorical way; it refers to two
events, one historical, and the other being the process of our redemption.

The nobleman believed the Lord and went away, and his son was
healed at the time of our Lord's promise. It took a little while for the nobleman
to get this news. That interim time is a metaphor for our entire life!

The healing that is taking place is not "flashy", but it is
definitely happening in stages. The Lord promises us much more than the healing of
our son; He promises us perfection and total peace in our souls. As we live our
life, it is evident that we are not always at peace, and have many problems and
obstacles. Are we like the nobleman? Do we believe even though we do not have
absolute evidence that the things we long for are coming to pass?

Let's admit it; we must WORK on maintaining our belief.
Discouragement is actually disbelief. Let's have the courage to label it as such,
and work on renewing our belief that the word of the Lord TO US will come to pass.
I do not know any other way to do this except to pray when I don't feel like
praying, and do stuff I do not want to do. I hunger to read the Scriptures,
especially the Gospels and the Psalter, and other holy things, because these things
increase my belief and resolve to continue the struggle. I fast for this reason. I
attend the services as much as possible for this reason (and not because I am the
pastor and must go - search the internet, and you will find many churches, even big
ones, that as a general rule have services only on Sunday - I schedule
services because my soul needs them, and my flock needs them too).

The nobleman's faith brings home the point that:

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance." (2Peter 3:9)

O Lord, help us to be patient and always believe, even when we
are tempted to be discouraged.

Use this for any edifying
reason, but please give credit, and include the URL of the article. This content
belongs to the author. We would love to hear from you with comments! (seraphim@orthodox.net)

[1]Our parish is being encouraged to read the Gospel
of John during the Pentecostarion period. If we read 1/2 chapter a day plus the
remainder (about 2 chapters) the day before Ascension, we will finish in forty
days.

This small essay is a
prayerful meditation on some part of the "assigned" reading. REMEMBER -
read the scripture to apply it to yourself. This is all important. There
may be parts you do not understand, but there will always be something that
touches your heart if you read it prayerfully.

If you have comments about
this verse or another in this selection (John 4:43-44), please add them in
the comments, or email them to me.